Heroes
by Hihana
Summary: As she first met him, Telma had been slightly intrigued and decided to watch. She couldn't have known that it was the birth of a legend she would be watching. On the way she noticed, that not all that he was born to be was good for him.


Heroes  
- a Zelda story -

by Hihana

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, hints of romance, Angst  
Pairing: hints of LinkxIlya  
Rating: T for violence, gore and blood  
Length: OneShot

Summary:  
As she first met him, Telma had been slightly intrigued and decided to watch. She couldn't have known that it was the birth of a legend she would be watching. On the way she noticed, that not all that he was born to be was good for him. In the end she mourned for him for what he had lost. Because it was all she could do except sit back and watch the play end.__

So my second Zelda story and once more for the Zelda fanfiction contest at the newly christened sacredrealm. Hopefully it's to your liking. Reviews and critics are much appreciated. So enough rambling.

Enjoy the show...  


* * *

Heroes!

It was another slow evening with few patrons. Her eyes swept over the interior as she wiped the counter, cleaning away the last stains of ale. Most of her customers nowadays had once been knights of their kingdom. Of their once proud kingdom of Hyrule, which had ultimately _fallen_.

There hadn't been much evidence, just rumours whispered amongst the survivors of the attack. It had been few, a handful of servants, an odd smidgen of knights and of course the princess.

Not that they had seen much of her. Word had it, that she had been confined to one part of the castle, but confirmation they had not.

To everyone's surprise life in the castle city had barely changed. The shops still opened, customers still haggled over prices and people still moaned over the taxes. Of course there were instances, where you noticed that their country had been invaded by beings none of them understood. The sober atmosphere, the constantly dark sky, weird aggressive monsters that no one had ever seen before and finally the lost contact to the other regions of Hyrule.

And slowly ever so slowly, the people noticed. Dairy products send from the far woods of Faron grew sparse, the soothing spring water sold by the gorons wasn't available anymore and so many more, but the biggest impact was without doubt the situation at lake Hylia, whose water was vanishing with each passing day. Countless times environmental experts had left the city to study the lake. There had only been one conclusion, something happened to the Zora tribe in the far north of the Lanaryu province, for they were the ones to care for the lakes, rivers and springs of Hyrule.

With a sigh Telma disposed of the rag she had used and glanced once more over the bar. A slow night like this was a blessing, it meant she could close early. After all she had more responsibilities now. And as soon as the thought entered her head she felt her gaze drift towards the door, as if waiting for it to open.

Soon she would have to check on "Emes", as she had come to call the amnesiac girl that had been left in her care weeks ago. With her blonde hair and cute face the young woman drew stares from many, but Telma imagined that it was probably the girl's spirit that attracted so many during daylight, for her eyes shone with a radiance that was rarely found in city girls. Even after the terrible ordeal she didn't remember, innocence and compassion lit her face like a rupee glistening in the sun.

Not much was known about Emes. The doctor had guessed her to be of seventeen summers and aside from the amnesia to be in perfect health. Telma had first been suspicious of the older man's intentions until she had noticed that most men behaved like this in the young woman's presence. Her clothing, hand spun and sewn, was more made for comfort, durability and mobility; suggested that her home was somewhere in the south of the castle, near the Faron woods. Probably on a farm in that region, as her calloused hands attested to a life marked with physical labor.

It was also the very first thing she offered; help! Help and work!

Emes offered to work with her in the bar, to pay for her stay and having looked in her eager emerald green eyes, she couldn't help but accept the offer, even though there barely was enough work for her alone these days.

Crouching down she petted Louise, taking comfort in her soft purring. She really needed to find a way to earn more money, otherwise she soon might have problems feeding Emes, Louise and herself.

She stood as the door opened and the familiar blonde curls of Emes stuck through the creak. Confused as to why she took so long, Telma left her bar after a customary glance and went to help the young woman. That is until the door was fully kicked open and Emes dragged a limp body in.

_Oh childe what have you gotten yourself in now?_

The body turned out to be a little Zora, far from being fully grown. It turned out that the Zora was sick and she had no idea how to help him. The only thing she could do with their meager rations was place him on one of the many crates, that littered her bar and call their doctor, who had already taken a look at Emes.

What she couldn't have known, that this incident along with her taking in Emes would bring her in contact with a remarkable young man.

He turned up a few days after they had taken the Zora in and Telma really didn't want to contemplate that she was picking up strays.. she was simply helping those in need. To their immense relief, the barriers that blocked their trading routes had been opened again and their postman had managed to deliver messages to Kakariko as well as Ordon. Things were looking up; with the reestablishment of the trade routes prices had sunk and made items affordable again.

It had also saved her bar from closing.

She had finally managed to get in contact with the doctor after days. In times like these with growing poverty the rates of the sick flourished and the man had his hands full. Telma nearly had forgotten how often she had simply written a bill but never charged it, even though she knew that he was still quite capable of paying.

He was just leaving after having inspected the Zora and god was that man useless. Yet she refrained from making a comment, he was still able to choose who he treated. She hadn't grown up in a business venture dominated by men to botch her chances at such simple things.

Of course Emes had no such pride, openly pleading for help, which fell on deaf ears. And it was then that she saw him for the first time, a young lad barely passing eighteen summer in an odd green garb, but with a weapon and shield. The lithe muscular built told her that he was a fighter, but aside from the fair face it was the eyes that ensnared her.

Slanted blue eyes filled with a fire she had never seen before, they were almost feral in the way they studied her and the other patrons. She thought she could actually see his nose twitch as he sniffed the air, which was of course completely impossible.

Then his eyes left hers and settled on Emes and suddenly there was a whole new set of emotion filling those blue sapphires: Longing, Love... and anguish as he was ignored. In that moment she knew without a doubt that this boy, this young man knew her Emes and had come for her.

But before that they would have to make sure that the young Zora was cured, Emes would not rest before it was done. Considering her idea for a few seconds she decided that her plan had good chances of working. Now with the free trade routes, they could reach Kakariko and seek help from the healer that was said to live there and care for the survivors of the massacre that happened there months ago.

The whole operation would be risky, but she counted on the help of the knights of Hyrule, who had complained the whole time that they hadn't had anything to do anymore. Well now was their chance. Of course as she spoke of her plans, she had no idea that a huge beast had taken to guarding the bridge over Lake Hylia. Suddenly all the knights were gone. In hindsight she guessed that she shouldn't have been surprised as the young man, whose name was Link, offered to help them. She was more than a bit doubtful in all honesty. The lad was young, how much experience could he have? But as their options were rather limited, she agreed.

He impressed her before he had drawn his sword. As she was waiting with her carriage, Emes and the Zora he had already arrived early and inspected everything including her horse. He owned one too, to her immense surprise. Horses were rather expensive animals these days, but the mare obeyed him without words. So he probably hadn't stolen her.

Then they were off.

The way to Kakariko village was long as the bridge connecting the plains in the north of Kakariko was still not repaired and therefore inaccessible. They would have to make due. With a carriage the route they had chosen normally took almost two days, but Telma was determined to manage the whole thing in one night. She had rested her horse and packed lightly for the trip.

The vast fields and plains were dangerous nowadays and she didn't want to risk their lives, thank you very much.

Reaching the bridge didn't take long and then she knew why the knights had been frightened. Undoubtedly the folk had never been told what was outside their castle walls, she certainly hadn't known and was somehow glad about it. Yet the lad, Link she had to remind herself took on the challenge without as much as batting an eyelash and in less time than it took to cook her famous meat broth, the monster was thrown off the bridge and into the darkness. Good riddance.

Now she was really impressed and told him so, only to get a shy glance and flushed cheeks.

The rest of their journey was uneventful with Link taking out the monsters that crossed their pass in an eery way, that admittedly frightened her. It wasn't so much that he killed them and that there was blood, no it was the intense focused expression he wore. The way muscles flexed and the timing as if he knew they were coming before they were even in sight.

Yet despite her fears, she had to concede that he was good, very good and perhaps the only one who could help their kingdom now.

It prompted her to tell him about the resistance that had formed in the bowels of the city and met only during twilight hours in fear of being discovered. After having left Ilia in Kakariko for she was still not healed, Telma returned to the city to find Hyrule in much better spirits, apparently some gorons had taken over the funding and the repairs were continuing steadily.

She knew that it was Link's doing. Renado had told her about Link's heroics on Death Mountain, about how he had defeated the evil and saved the few survivors of the Kakariko massacre along with the children.

And yet the boy had never asked for something in return.

Despite her invitation it took Link over one month before he entered her bar once more and he came at midnight. While outwardly calm her heart was pounding as she directed him into the darker quieter area of her bar. There sitting around the table was the resistance of Hyrule.

She watched as Link approached them, as they spoke and as the lad left again. During those moments the fire in his eyes had still burned.

It was close to dawn as she herself approached the group and questioned them. This time she wasn't surprised when she heard that the shepherd, Link was a shepherd; had accepted the quest and had already left for Lake Hylia.

Weeks later he returned, injured and weary. He slept through the night in one of her guest rooms before meeting with the small group only to leave again. The procedure became a routine until Rusl, a former knight of Hyrule also prepared his departure. It turned out that Rusl was the former mentor of Link and had taught him the ways of the sword. It was a thought that bothered her; she had known Rusl for years now, had seen him fight countless times and the style he used didn't resemble Link's in any way. Perhaps he had found a new mentor during his travels.

She resolved to ask him the next time she saw him.

But the next time she saw Telma forgot all about it as she saw the lad stumbling through the door of her bar supported by Rusl.

The usual green cap was missing and tattered wool bandages with bloody specks wrapped around his face, one of those wild eyes hidden behind cotton. The tunic was ripped and stained and nothing resembled the golden hero she had met before. The fire had diminished.

She spent days caring for the exhausted lad, asking him about his life before he left his home the Faron Woods. And tired the boy, for he still really was that, a boy, talked and talked. Described his quiet peaceful life, his attempts at courting Ilia and his plans to become the mayor of their village one day.

It was a nice dream, Telma supposed. A dream he might never get to fulfill as he admitted to her his plans to storm the isolated castle as soon as he could walk again. The princess was still there and needed to be saved. There was one last enemy to defeat and then he could rest.

His eyes were closed as he whispered to her, so he didn't see her tears and the guilt in her own eyes. He couldn't know just how bad she felt, for it had been her who had ultimately stolen the light from his eyes. The fire nearly extinguished, replaced with animalistic instincts instead. In the end she watched with weary eyes as the lad left for the castle, knowing that she could do nothing to stop him. In her fingers she clutched a bag filled with letters for the people he cared about.

She just couldn't let him walk away alone.

Making her decision, she left her position and searched for Rusl, the least they could was to guard the lad's back.

Watching was just not enough!! The only thing she wanted to watch would be the binding ceremony of Link and Ilia and she would damn do everything in her powers that it would happen.

End


End file.
